Rising penetration of electronic health record (EHRs) is creating need for faster exchange of healthcare information. Also, growing patient-centric approach has boosted demand for high quality care to ensure safety of patients is propelling growth of the global medical device connectivity market. Additionally, adoption of EHRs and connectivity devices in healthcare reduces cost and increases efficiency for data analytics is fuelling adoption of medical device connectivity which is likely to propel growth of the global medical device connectivity market.

However, high cost of deployment and unwillingness of healthcare providers to adopt new technologies over the traditional methods are limiting growth of the medical device connectivity market. Additionally, some issues related to integration between numerous devices, and data security are limiting growth of the global medical device connectivity market.

According to the report by TMR, the global medical device connectivity market was valued at around US$ 3,500 million in 2012 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of around 37.8% from 2013 to 2019 to attain value of US$33.5 billion by the end of 2019.

Higher Adoption of Connectivity Devices from Hospitals to be Beneficial for Growth

On the basis of component, the global medical device connectivity market is segmented into wireless hardware, wired hardware, and software. Wireless hardware is further segmented in to Wi-Fi, web map tile service (WMTS), and Bluetooth. Of these, the wired hardware segment dominated the global medical device connectivity market and is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period. This growth is attributable to the higher demand for wired hardware from end users due to efficient connectivity of these connectivity devices. However, demand for wireless hardware segment is growing from past few years. Of the wireless hardware, Wi-Fi has been identified as the most demanding sub-segment owing to its flexibility and advancement in connectivity.

On the basis of end user, the global medical device connectivity market is segmented into home healthcare, hospitals, and others. Of these, the global medical device connectivity market is dominated by the hospitals segment owing to higher adoption of medical devices from the hospitals and healthcare providers. However, growing trend of home healthcare is fuelling growth of the home healthcare segment in the medical device connectivity market.

On the basis of region, the global medical device connectivity market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World. Of these, North America is dominating the global market for medical device connectivity owing to higher adoption of new technology in the healthcare sector. Additionally, growing investment in the healthcare sector in order to improve the healthcare facilities are the key factor encouraging growth of the medical devices connectivity market. However, the Asia Pacific is expected to expand with faster CAGR due to higher population or patient’s pool and continuously growing healthcare industry in the region.

Key players operating in the medical device connectivity market include GE Healthcare, Qualcomm Life, Philips, Cerner Corporation, and NantHealth. The global medical devices market has highly consolidated vendor landscape owing to number of acquisitions, mergers, and partnerships in the market.

Medical device connectivity (MDC) is used to remotely control, configure and monitor patient’s administration data such as dose, rate, timing etc., physiological data and other key information. This helps healthcare providers provide best possible care to their patients. MDC not only enhances clinical analytics capabilities and decision support but also creates accurate and complete picture of patients’ conditions. This leads to improved care processes and patient outcomes. Medical devices can be connected on wired or wireless networks. Wired networks are easily configured, fast and stable. Wireless network technologies including bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and wireless medical telemetry service, provide ubiquitous connectivity and coverage and allow uninterrupted patient monitoring. Wired networks have high initial installation and maintenance cost.

One of the major trends in the market is that most of the hospitals are looking at connecting not just one or two devices in critical care units but looking at connecting the whole hospital or enterprise including ICUs, critical care, telemetry step down units, operating units etc. For instance, the companies such as Capsule Tech Inc. deliver connectivity to an ever-growing list of specialized medical devices across the hospital enterprise, such as pediatric ventilators and cerebral oximeters. Furthermore, wireless technology for MDC market is growing rapidly owing to the benefits offered such as cost, portability and maintenance benefits. This acts as an internal substitute for the conventional wired technology. Different end users such as hospitals and home healthcare are switching towards adoption of wireless connectivity over wired.

Majority of American patients support the adoption of home medical devices to improve and manage prolonged chronic conditions. In 2010 Centers for Disease Control, the USA (CDC) reported that 45.2% of the Americans have at least one chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease. MDC facilitates the connection of medical devices with physicians to keep a continuous watch on abnormalities of patients at home in a cost effective manner. MDC facilitates the connection of medical devices with physicians to keep a continuous watch on abnormalities of patients at home in a cost effective manner. Without MDC, information related to patients is scattered throughout the hospital. Automating the data transfer from medical devices to EMR facilitates improved communication. Thus clinicians as well as healthcare providers are likely to have all available medical information, which helps in making proper diagnostic decisions. These benefits and advantages of MDC enhance patient healthcare services. Thus clinicians and nurses spend more time on patient care, rather than documentation of data. This improves patient satisfaction as well as patient safety.

The report includes segmentation of MDC market by component type, end user, and geography. Further, it provides current and forecast market size by revenue for the aforementioned categories. Cross sectional analysis for end user and component segments is a part of the scope. Factors influencing and inhibiting the growth of the market have been analyzed. Porter’s five forces analysis offers insights on market competition. An integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the gateway to help physicians utilize and access the data generated by medical devices and provide an input to physicians so that they can easily keep a track or observe vital signs for chronic conditions. In the U.S., home healthcare showed about 9% year on year growth in 2011-2012 and is expected to rise globally in the coming years owing to growth and development of new technologies such as high speed internet, reliable connectivity. It becomes easy for clinicians to monitor older patients at home with higher accuracy as well as help them to minimize expenses required for patient care in hospitals and nursing homes. All these benefits are driving the demand for home healthcare across the globe, in turn increasing the usage of connected medical devices.

This study includes profile of key players in the market and the strategies adopted by them to sustain the competition. Recent developments and barriers of the market will help emerging players to design their strategies in an effective manner. The study is expected to help solution providers of medical device connectivity in formulating and developing their strategies.